Discussion of Prior Art
Due to the enormous volume of content associated with the Internet, it is not unusual for search engines to identify thousands, if not millions of web sites as the outcome of a single search query. These results are bundled and presented to the User in groups of 10 to 25. The viewer is automatically presented the first group/page of sites, then must request any additional listings. As a result, the competition is stiff to be included in the top/first group of websites. Some websites pay fees to boost their rankings, while others might enter into strategic partnerships or reciprocal agreements to improve their position. As a result the top listings may not be the best websites, or most the popular in that category.
By contrast, Internet Directories organize the web by super categories, then by categories and subcategories. This allows users to further define their search at each new level, reducing the number of potential “hits,” and increasing the quality of the response. FIG. 1 provides a flow chart of Internet Directories' prior art. A user first chooses an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Search Engine 10, electing to use its Internet Directory for the search, reviews a predefined list, and with the click of a mouse selects a specific field or super category 12. With each click, the universe of the search is narrowed and the User is moved to the lower level of categories 13. The process continues to subcategories 18 until the options are reduced to a manageable size and the targeted URL is located. A hypertext link then transports the user to the desired site.
A drawback to this approach is each category/subcategory needs to be monitored, managed and updated to ensure the quality of the directory and the success of a search. With a potential of thousands or even millions of categories and subcategories this can be a costly proposition. To manage this problem, “Open Directory Project” (copyright 1998-2003 Netscape) enlists the services of almost 55,000 volunteer editors. These editors cannot begin to cover the over 460,000 categories or the 3.8 million websites (only about 10% of Google's websites) in the Open Directory database. These volunteers get paid nothing, and as is best understood have little or no training and do not have a vested interest in the success of the site. In addition, volunteer editors are not positioned to design, host and manage individual webpages. There is no financial incentive for the volunteers to attract new webpages by providing value added services or cutting edge technology to enhance the webpages within the domain. The volunteers do not advertise or promote their category to attract new viewers. The “Open Directory” does not charge to list a URL or to use the Directory. As best understood, revenue is generated by advertising clicks and through business relationships with Internet search engines utilizing the Open Directory Project. There is no new or innovative Internet business model to support the Directory. In fact, the “Open Directory” model is not unlike the one faulted for fueling the demise of the dot.com era.
A subset of Internet Directory is the Electronic Yellow Pages (EYP). The EYP is an electronic version of the Yellow Pages Telephone Books. There are currently about 3.3 million EYP websites in multiple categories (local, regional, national, international, language, business sector, etc), In addition to providing business listings by category and subcategory, and by city state, region, or nation, the EYPs usually provide some level of value added services such as reverse searches, coupons, maps, directions, information on what is nearby, links to city guides, links to the listed business' websites, website development, and website hosting. As best understood, webpages are charged for one or more of the services provided, and for the number of times viewers are drawn to and “click” on associated advertisements.
Like the Internet Directories, each EYP operates as a individual business. There are several drawbacks to this monolithic business model. First to compete, each competitor replicates this enormous structure. This means the same basic service is being offered to the same universe of businesses. With over 3 million EYPs, the dollars from listed businesses and from advertising is thinly spread across the EYP industry. Second, EYPs that charge to list a business will have incomplete databases that can limit EYP effectiveness and value to users. Lastly, with each EYP supporting thousands of categories/subcategories it cannot afford to manage and promote each category.
To provide category management and specialized support, there are a growing number of independent Directory Websites. These websites provide a list of businesses in their category with hypertext links to related webpages. As independent businesses dedicating to providing a Directory Website (also known as a portal) for a specific category, they can tailor their website and the services it provides to best support that category.
Unfortunately, all these sites are not listed in an Internet Directory Service, and the URLs do not identify them as directory sites, making them difficult to locate. When one is located, it may or may not contain the comprehensive listings expected. For example, “doctors.com” does not provide a roster of all medical doctors by location and specialty, but does list 10 health associations with links to their sites. On the other hand, “physicians.com” does list medical doctors, but only plastic surgeons. “Lawyers.com” provides a comprehensive list of all the attorneys and law firms in the United States, but “attorneys.com” does not. It is hit or miss to both find these sites and to find sites with comprehensive listings.
Summary of Prior Art—Pros and Cons
Currently there are three primary methods to locate websites on the Internet: Search engines, Internet directories (including Electronic Yellow Pages) and independent directory websites. Each of these has pros and cons, discussed above.
The primary method is the search engine. As discussed above, due to the tremendous volume of content on the Internet, it is not unusual for a search engine to identify thousands, if not millions of web sites as the outcome of a single search query. The results are bundled into groups of 10 to 40 listings per page. The user is immediately presented with the first group/page. Additional pages must be requested, so it is highly advantageous for websites to be included on the first page. Depending on the search engine, top websites are chosen by their popularity (number of hits), how much a website is willing to pay for a priority listing or on strategic alliances with the search engine/search engine host. As a result, using a search engine to find specific information can be cumbersome and slow.
By contrast, Internet Directories organize the web by super categories or “fields”, then by categories and subcategories, as discussed above. Drawbacks to this approach are that each category/subcategory needs to be monitored, managed and updated to ensure the quality of the directory and the success of a search. With a potential of thousands or even millions of categories and subcategories, this represents a huge undertaking. E.g. to attempt to manage this problem, the “Open Directory Project” (copyright 1998-2003 Netscape) enlisted the services of almost 55,000 volunteer editors. These editors, however, could not begin to cover the over 460,000 categories or the 3.8 million websites in the “Open Directory” database (only about 10% of Google's websites). The volunteers were paid nothing, and were not in a position to advertise and promote the category, design and host websites using cutting edge technology or provide other value added services. In short, there are many shortcomings associated with the Internet business model in the “Open Directory.”
A subset of the Internet Directory is the Electronic Yellow Pages (EYP). The EYP is an advertisements. In addition to providing traditional business listings, most EYP search engines are able to sort the directory listings by category, subcategory, city, state, region or nation. Many EYPs also provide some level of value added service such as reverse searches, coupons, maps, directions, information on what is nearby, links to city guides, links to the listed business' websites, website development and website hosting. However, since EYPs list all categories of business, again they cannot afford to manage or promote each individual category and subcategory. As a result, the information in the directory may or may not be current or complete. There are currently about 3.3 million EYP websites, each replicating the same enormous structure and providing similar services to the same universe of users. Businesses can't pay to advertise or post their websites on all 3 million sites. As a result, the robust revenue stream generated by the Yellow Pages Telephone books is not there for the EYPs.
The third method is directory websites. These websites provide listings of businesses within a category with links to the business websites. Because they represent specific categories of information, these websites can be tailored to support their individual domains. Unfortunately, these sites are not consolidated under an Internet Directory Service so they are difficult to find. And when a directory website is located, there is no guarantee it will be complete. For example, “doctors.com” lists 10 health associations, while “physicians.com” lists only plastic surgeons. “Lawyers.com” appears to provide a fairly comprehensive list, but “attorneys.com” does not. It is hit or miss to find good directory websites with comprehensive listings. The user cannot, by reference to an identifying mark or URL, have any reasonable expectation of uniformity of content, organization, comprehensiveness and/or up-to-dateness.